Tuberculosis (TB) has been scaring the school as the disease has recently appeared and can be highly contagious. This airborne bacteria is an infection within the lungs that can remain dormant in an individual for years before they even realize they have it or have spread the disease. TB’s symptoms include fever, night sweats, fatigue, anorexia, weight loss, and coughing up blood. According to Karen Holbrook, a Deputy Health Officer at the Department of Health Services for the County of Sonoma, further elaborates on TB, its likelihood, and how it spreads.

    “There are on average 12 cases of active TB in Sonoma County a year and TB infection is distinct from active TB disease. With TB infection, the bacteria enter the body but stay quiet and do not cause disease. The most common place for active TB disease is the lungs (pulmonary TB).  Active pulmonary TB can spread to other people if the bacteria are coughed into the air and breathed in by others. It typically takes many hours of shared air space for this spread to occur.  When a person is diagnosed with active TB, the doctors and the Health Department make sure that person stays away from other people until they have been on treatment and are no longer contagious. Thus every case of active pulmonary TB prompts an investigation by the Health Department to determine who may have been exposed to the TB bacteria. People who may have been exposed are identified and are supposed to be tested for TB infection. Because the TB bacteria grow very slowly it can take 8-10 weeks before a person tests positive. So a negative TB infection test is definitive only if it has been 8 to 10 weeks after the last possible exposure,” said Holbrook.

   TB was spread throughout the campus when a student who had travelled became a carrier for the bacteria. It remained dormant in the student for years before it was activated this year and it started spreading. Because the student was unaware of the disease they were carrying, they unintentionally spread the disease to students around him. The football team, along with all classmates of them, have to be tested for the bacteria. One of the carrier’s classmates who has been infected, shared the TB testing process along with how they dealt with the aftermath.

    “The testing process is quick and painless. I am perfectly fine with no symptoms. However, I was nervous when tested positive. Now that I know that I am just a carrier, my anxiousness has decreased substantially. I will take antibiotics for nine months and just continue my normal life other than that!” said anonymous.

  Tuberculosis, although frightening, can be diagnosed and treated easily, and can cause no severe harm to the infected individual and others. If you would like more information about tuberculosis you can go to the school health center or make an appointment with your doctor.